Thanks. In this video the tops of the rocks are 15-20 feet, and I am diving down to 25-35 feet. This last weekend I was diving in an area that sees a lot of pressure and I was working the 40 foot zone. I am not an expert on 10" abalone, but I have never heard of one coming from deep water. It is my understanding that most come from pretty shallow water, where the most food is available. The trick is to find a remote spot and a calm day. Good luck with the search.
I have been using the 720-60 setting. The 60 frames per second seems to run a bit smoother with my rapid head movements. It also slows down nicer. I was able to slow a bolting halibut down to half time, and I could see it pretty well.
I don't feel like I am holding my breath very long at all. Look at some of those seabass guys down South. I try not to push into the "need to breathe" sensation. The only thing I do is just relax as much as possible before each dive. Do not hyperventilate or anything of that sort. Just relax, get comfortable, take a deep breath and dive. I also like to give myself sufficient time to recover on the surface, so I may lay for a minute or two between dives. Or were you offering to give me tips;)
You can find some good ones deep, but the main 2 controls are food and predation. There is more food available to them in shallow, so their growth rates will be better. Since more people are able to dive to the bottom in the shallows, there is a higher rate of harvest. I guess the answer to your question is yes and no.
cool vid, i dive out of van damn and areas between albion and van damn, in fact i camp at schooners landing in albion for the last 5 years and have dove out of albion a time or 2, about how deep do you think you were / are diving, im comfortable to about 20 feet, do you think that deep enought to being a 10 inch gauge? iv brought up a few 9's but would be stoked to surface a 10, thanks for any info
I hope you are enjoying the sport. There is something rewarding about popping big snails off rocks. As for tangled and drowned, it does happen to a few people every year. The key is to streamline your gear, do not stay down too long, and mostly do not panic. Bull kelp is not as likely to break as giant kelp when you give it a good tug. If you are tangled, you may need to stop and loosen a loop or something. I have seen guys bolting for the surface and get stuck just a foot or so shy of the surface. All they had to do was loosen a loop around their ankle, but they were just pulling for the surface. If you dive to the end of each breath every time then you may not have time to untangle yourself. It also helps to have good situational awareness. Keep track of the stipes all around you and try to predict what they are doing. In the summer they are going up for the most part and easy to predict. Late in the season when the heads have been popped and there is a tangled mass of snakes on the bottom, that is when it is the most dangerous, in my opinion.
many thanks andy for the info! unfortunately as yet I don't have a dive buddy and as much as I heard '' ALWAYS dive with a buddy '' I don't want this to stop me from diving! So please kindly drop me few lines about how to minimise the risks of free diving when you get time. as yet I don't have a great breath holding ability and I must confess if abs clamp down ,by the time I get them off and surface I am a bit out of breath. good news is as for now I generally avoid diving in thick kelp and I don't Dive deeper than 3 Meters . if you have some tricks for increasing breath holding (apart from dive more ;) please let me know. Also any info about diving knives and where best to strap them would be great (I ordered 2!) I dive in Tasmania/Australia and most times I dive from the shore (hopping from the rocks) many thanks Sina
+koohnavard11 i got tangled one time in the 10 years i have been diving. just pay attention to what you are doing. I used to velcro my tools on my wrists so i wouldn't have to hold them the whole time but thats how i got tangled.. If this does happen the biggest thing is just dont panic even if you are running out of air try to figure out what you need to do.
It would be easier, better is in debate, but the main reason to avoid scuba is the law. In California it is not legal to dive for abalone with scuba gear on you, or on your boat.
would you not be better on scuba equipment? you could go down for 60 minutes at a go and collect loads more because you have the time to search properly. then just bring a catch bag or something :)
Thanks. In this video the tops of the rocks are 15-20 feet, and I am diving down to 25-35 feet. This last weekend I was diving in an area that sees a lot of pressure and I was working the 40 foot zone.
I am not an expert on 10" abalone, but I have never heard of one coming from deep water. It is my understanding that most come from pretty shallow water, where the most food is available. The trick is to find a remote spot and a calm day.
Good luck with the search.
Beautiful footage & very nice bottom time. Hope there will be a rec season in 5 yrs.
I have been using the 720-60 setting. The 60 frames per second seems to run a bit smoother with my rapid head movements. It also slows down nicer. I was able to slow a bolting halibut down to half time, and I could see it pretty well.
That sounds like a fun episode, I will have to try and find it.
Great video guys im getting ready to pack and go to timber cove from wed to labor day cant wait till im out there for some diving and fishing.
I don't feel like I am holding my breath very long at all. Look at some of those seabass guys down South. I try not to push into the "need to breathe" sensation. The only thing I do is just relax as much as possible before each dive. Do not hyperventilate or anything of that sort. Just relax, get comfortable, take a deep breath and dive. I also like to give myself sufficient time to recover on the surface, so I may lay for a minute or two between dives.
Or were you offering to give me tips;)
You can find some good ones deep, but the main 2 controls are food and predation. There is more food available to them in shallow, so their growth rates will be better. Since more people are able to dive to the bottom in the shallows, there is a higher rate of harvest. I guess the answer to your question is yes and no.
any tips for holding your breath underwater longer
lol...BONK!!
Lots of abs though! And was that a bird or Eric screeching at the beginning?
I have got to try that! Right in my back yard, Got my head wrapped around blue water.
cool vid, i dive out of van damn and areas between albion and van damn, in fact i camp at schooners landing in albion for the last 5 years and have dove out of albion a time or 2, about how deep do you think you were / are diving, im comfortable to about 20 feet, do you think that deep enought to being a 10 inch gauge? iv brought up a few 9's but would be stoked to surface a 10, thanks for any info
There were a ton of abs, you missed a fun trip. Not sure what made that noise, lets blame Eric.
New abalone video and camping in northern Calif. yes I know I need a underwater camera check it out
Nice what setting your using on the gopro
andrew, i have started to free dive for ab few months ago!
in all honesty how probable is it to get tangled n drowned in kelp forest?
I hope you are enjoying the sport. There is something rewarding about popping big snails off rocks. As for tangled and drowned, it does happen to a few people every year. The key is to streamline your gear, do not stay down too long, and mostly do not panic. Bull kelp is not as likely to break as giant kelp when you give it a good tug. If you are tangled, you may need to stop and loosen a loop or something. I have seen guys bolting for the surface and get stuck just a foot or so shy of the surface. All they had to do was loosen a loop around their ankle, but they were just pulling for the surface. If you dive to the end of each breath every time then you may not have time to untangle yourself. It also helps to have good situational awareness. Keep track of the stipes all around you and try to predict what they are doing. In the summer they are going up for the most part and easy to predict. Late in the season when the heads have been popped and there is a tangled mass of snakes on the bottom, that is when it is the most dangerous, in my opinion.
many thanks andy for the info!
unfortunately as yet I don't have a dive buddy
and as much as I heard '' ALWAYS dive with
a buddy '' I don't want this to stop me from diving!
So please kindly drop me few lines about how
to minimise the risks of free diving when you get time.
as yet I don't have a great breath holding ability and I must confess if abs clamp down ,by the time I get them off and surface I am a bit out of breath.
good news is as for now I generally avoid diving in thick kelp and I don't Dive deeper than 3 Meters .
if you have some tricks for increasing breath holding (apart from dive more ;) please let me know.
Also any info about diving knives and where best to strap them would be great (I ordered 2!)
I dive in Tasmania/Australia and most times I dive from the shore (hopping from the rocks)
many thanks
Sina
+ what the tool you use?(brand ,model)
koohnavard11 I left you a personal message. Good luck out there!
+koohnavard11 i got tangled one time in the 10 years i have been diving. just pay attention to what you are doing. I used to velcro my tools on my wrists so i wouldn't have to hold them the whole time but thats how i got tangled.. If this does happen the biggest thing is just dont panic even if you are running out of air try to figure out what you need to do.
do the abalone get bigger the deeper underwater you go?
I just saw Andrew Zimmern do this. I really want to try them now.
2:27 that looked like a huge one at the bottom of the screen O.o
It would be easier, better is in debate, but the main reason to avoid scuba is the law. In California it is not legal to dive for abalone with scuba gear on you, or on your boat.
Thank ill try that this weekend
nice place
would you not be better on scuba equipment?
you could go down for 60 minutes at a go and collect loads more because you have the time to search properly.
then just bring a catch bag or something :)